Stuff I come across

Delivery services like Deliveroo and foodora have had to tackle three major concerns from hospitality businesses before getting them to sign on the dotted line.

In the old days, delivery was a dirty word. You had the choice between greasy, overladen pizza and lukewarm pad thai, neither of which would arrive within the hour and when it did eventually turn up, the pubescent teenage driver would have the customer service skills of, well, a pubescent teenager.

Well, times are changing and the quality of food being delivered to hungry Australians has seriously improved. Online takeaway platform, Menulog, has partnered with Zoom2u, which means its Sydney restaurants can now offer a home delivery service. Sherpa, an Australian on-demand service delivery start-up has expanded its operations to offer more takeaway food deliveries via partnerships with DeliveryHero.com.au and Doughnut Time, and Melbourne has announced it’ll soon become the third non-US city to welcome UberEATS, a home food delivery service launched by the popular ride-sharing app.

And then there are companies like Deliveroo, whichcame to Australia late last year after having received over $240 million in funding from the same organisations which have invested in Facebook and AirBnB.

Levi Aron, Deliveroo Australia’s country manager, says the company’s strategy is to educate both consumers and the hospitality sector on how the delivery experience can be an enjoyable and valuable one.

But in order to do this, delivery services have had to tackle some serious concerns from the hospitality industry.